Chapter 8

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I entered the ring with a sincere and wide smile. Fortune favoured me by giving a real emotion smile in front of Esdes and I didn't have to put on a fake one, having a chance to fail.

And there were quite a few reasons to be in a good mood. First, a night hunt, the purpose of which was my dinner, a cup of coffee in the morning, the most beautiful weather, and finally, the great support from Leone, who didn't even bother to let me enjoy her tits... Never mind.

I, unable to remove my smile (I seriously tried), looked round at the main spectators. Esdes, and her whole group... I think Seru was going to go alone... Ahem... By the way Kurome looks very nice... Not as good as Akame, of course, but still....

A cheerful smile kept on my face until I heard "START!" from Wade. Then, that same smile turned into a gambling smile. But...

My opponent was a swordsman. A swordsman who emphasised on strength. I was amused by the fact that they were so easy to defeat.

And so, I prepared to play with him... striking the first, rather weak blow to the chest... Piercing this very chest. For the first second, I stood there in complete shock, with my body strung up on my arm. But then I slapped myself lightly on the forehead. It's just a normal person. And all the past time, I've fought Teigu bearers, whose bodies are much stronger. And on the guards, I didn't hold back, I don't really notice the difference.

Making a completely disappointed face (I wasn't faking it), I walked away from the corpse, where a couple of people were already running towards it with stretchers, obviously for carrying it. In the background came Wave's verdict, spoken in a slightly twitchy voice:

- P-p-winner - Kaneki!

Next, the audience began to applaud timidly, which made me chuckle bitterly. People will never change... They'll always enjoy the suffering of others. And then I realised a simple truth, which confirmed what I had just said. After all, I stopped being a mad maniac, only after turning into a demon... And before that, I was a human... Funny....

I noticed Esdes hurriedly descending into the arena. Risking a peek at her emophone, I hastily closed it, swearing at the incredible complexity of the female emotion cocktails I never liked. Much better pure, single emotions....

Meanwhile, Esdes, with a friendly smile, approached me. It's true... I'd still run away from that smile... It feels like you're about to be cut up and eaten... that's what my victims feel... though no, they don't even understand the fate of their carcass after death....

- Kaneki, right? - she asked gently. Shit... just hearing her voice almost made me feel like a happy puddle... - That's a beautiful name.

- Thank you. - I smiled with the corner of my lips.

- The fight was great. - Yeah, great. Yeah, one punch. That's what I believed. - and I want to give you an award.

- Thank you very much..." I replied, preparing to accept the collar. To make things easier, I threw a glance over my shoulder at Leone and Lubbock, pale with tension, and smiled encouragingly at them.

I felt the lock close around my neck and Esdes' light hands on my shoulders. I put the most shock on my face that I was capable of while turning to the girl.

- From now on... you belong to me. - she said contentedly, while simultaneously blushing slightly.

The chain on my collar tightened, and I was yanked behind Esdes, who was literally rushing towards the palace. My throat constricted unpleasantly, but I had another, much more serious problem. I struggled to keep the laughter from bursting out of me.

- It's too noisy here. Let's go to the palace. - I heard her embarrassed voice.

- Wait! -somehow I shouted.

The girl stopped abruptly, and I was thrown further. And then I was hit on the neck by the palm of her hand.

- Nope. I don't want to wait. - I heard the fading sound of her voice.

***

I woke up lying on the bed. And chained by the collar to the bed. Scanning the room, I realised there was no one in it. I got up and began to think hard, drilling my eyes into the foot of the bed to which the chain was attached.

Esdes must have been in a hurry to leave such a poor defence against my escape. I remembered my plan for my relationship with the blue-haired woman and began to burn the leg. Though it was iron, my fire would melt it with ease. I don't care if it was made of stone! "Hellfire", although more costly, but in principle it can melt stone. Of course, it's a few orders of magnitude easier to just break it, but still....

In general, I had the idea of being white and fluffy, but then... I realised that in order to strengthen the relationship with Esdes, you should on the contrary, try to run away and just not bow before her love... First time....

And now, the perfect chance to give the appearance of trying to escape. Tearing off the leg, I began to wait, while probing the surrounding corridors.

And now, the entire group of Huntsmen, led by Esdes, had reached the finish line at my door. I clenched the torn-off iron in my hands, intending to throw it at the pursuers for good effect. And if I did get away with playing around like that, it wouldn't be my fault. Esdes' situation will be a little worse for my failure, but not by much.

And here the door opens... I turn a furious look at the group, and then I throw a piece of iron at the dumbfounded Huntsmen, while jumping through the window... Well, as jumping... Having caught the fire hook on the window, I try to fly into the window below. And I hear a wild, painful scream... I freeze in the air, because of the fact that my cloak is frozen to the window.

Quickly calculating the possible consequences of my actions, I directed an infernal flame ("infernal" being a flame several orders of magnitude hotter than normal), thus turning Esdes' ice into vapour almost instantly. The cloak also burst into flames, but I don't have to worry about it. I'll restore it later.

I did make it to the room a floor below... which instantly after my appearance there, turned into an ice box. And here, the ice was much harder, due to the mana inside it.

The flames of hell, however, are not called such for nothing. Five seconds later, the door was unfrozen, and I ran down the corridors... though not too hard.

As I ran to the nearest corner, the floor iced up beneath my feet, and as a consequence, I flew into the wall. I twisted around and looked around at my surroundings. In the passageway to my left, Wave and Kurome were running at me. On the right, Man in a gas mask and some sort of doctor... a doctor with a huge lump on his forehead. I think I know who that iron hit... Ahead of me is Esdes and that guy with the wings. I looked up, trying to find some kind of window, and then the said pigeon launched several feather knives at me.

After a bit of thought, I realised it was a good time to show my phlegmatic nature to this level of injury. I was about to put my arm out to be pierced by the knife when... it failed. Yeah, this guy's power situation is the worst.

- That's great! What a mastery of power! You are definitely my chosen one! - Asdes spread her arms, hurrying towards me.

I, on the other hand, created a rather large fireball in my hand, and then slowly glanced at the wall behind me.

- No... Don't even think about it..." the pigeon managed to shout.

However... my body was encased in ice up to my neck. It was not difficult to break such a thing, but... why? I'd rather watch the spectacle that was about to unfold.

Esdes slowly approached me, blushing more and more at the same time. After that, she hurriedly slapped my neck again. Oh, come on!

***

I lazily scanned the room with my empathy. Kurome was sitting on a chair opposite my bed, and from the sounds of it, she was eating a biscuit.

I opened my eyes, and realised that I was swaddled whole and completely. I was wrapped in chains, and clearly more than once. Lifting my head slightly, I faced Kurome, who had even set aside the bag of biscuits. Dark Side... Empire....

- Wonderful. - I snorted, resting my head back on the pillow.

Meanwhile, Kurome took a small piece of ice in her hand, which was lying on the table, and apparently was some kind of "signal" for Esdes.

- Can I ask a question? - I asked the ceiling. - What are they going to do to me?

The answer I got was silence. However, after a couple of minutes, Kurome did answer:

- As best I can tell, Mrs Esdes has chosen you to be her chosen one.

I wondered how to continue the conversation, however....

- Do you want a biscuit? - Kurome suddenly asked. She seems to be extremely greedy for her goodies....

- I don't. - I replied with a little sadness that I couldn't contain.

The door slammed so hard that I wondered if it had come off its hinges.

- Good work, Kurome. - came Esdes' cheerful voice. Unwillingly, I began to reconsider my options, but for some reason my instinct for self-preservation was going nuclear.

At the end of my thoughts, I had time to look around at the surroundings, namely, the window, which was frozen shut, as well as the Huntsmen in full force, standing by the wall, and drilling me with an interested look. And Seria... she didn't know what was going on at all. Next to her, by the way, stood the very doctor with a bump on his forehead, who was giving me a baleful look. I wonder why he didn't take that lump out. There should be a remedy....

- Meet the doctor! - Esdes excitedly addressed the Huntsmen. - Kaneki. The newest member of the Hunter Squad! But he's not just a member of the squad. I felt it right away... Kaneki... will become my lover!

At this announcement, the entire Huntsmen went into a state of shock. Weiwe was the first to move away.

- He doesn't look happy..." said the boy. - And the chains are for lovers...

- Kaneki! - Seriu suddenly exclaimed with joy. - This is so great! Now you can serve Esdes-sama too!

- No, no, no, no, no, no, no! - I abruptly interrupted my vow of silence. - Seriu, I told you I'm far from the service!

- Oh, so you two know each other? - Esdes glowed even more, looking at Seriu carnivorously. Ugh... someone is about to be tortured about my personal information.....

- In fact, let me go! Give me the tournament reward, and I'll leave the capital forever! - I was indignant, emphasising the last words. Now Esdes will definitely not let me go.

- It's impossible. - Esdes smiled sincerely at me, blushing a little. - Now you are mine, and I won't let you go.

I crushingly dropped my head on the pillow, then a new idea came into my head and I slowly started to vaporise the ice on the window.

- By the way, do either of you have a date? - Esdes suddenly asked, pulling out a key and leaning over to the bed. Apparently that's where the lock to those chains is... or several locks.

The flamethrower slowly raised his hand, causing everyone here to stumble.

- Mr Balls, is this true? - Seriu asked in surprise. I, meanwhile, drilled a glance at the key frozen near the lock.

- Yes... I've been married for six years! Though I don't deserve such a beautiful wife!!! - exclaimed this same Balls. When I looked at him, for some reason the image of a huge man in a white suit with pincers in his hands clearly appeared in my head....

Then looking at the key again, I realised that it seemed that I was not going to be released, because Esdes put it back in her pocket and left, but the lock remained closed.

I was beginning to tire of this, so I began to melt the chains that were under the bed and out of reach of the Huntsmen.

Then the door of the room opened, and an army man came in, with a tablet (for papers) in his hands.

- Mrs Esdes! As you ordered, here's the report on the area around Lake Gyogan....

- Excellent... - Esdes smiled bloodily. - And what about the kuroken?

- This morning, another squad of guards was found in a tattered state. - Clearly reported the soldier, but in emotion he trembled quite strongly. Esdes tensed her fists in rage, but after a few seconds she calmed down and gave the soldier a nod to leave. Then she turned to the Huntsmen:

- Gentlemen, here is your first assignment.

***

- We have learnt that there is a rebel group headquartered in a fortress near Lake Gyogan. We'll postpone the search for the night raid and the kuroken for a while. This enemy must be dealt with now.

- And if the enemy wants to surrender, Captain? - Balls asked.

- Only the weak surrender," Esdes smirked. - The strongest survives. It is the law of nature.

- To deal with the villains and eradicate evil... - Seriu smiled happily. - I'm... so glad to be a part of this squad.

- You can kill them as much as you like. - Esdes smiled good-naturedly.

- Thank you, ma'am. - Serju clasped her hands to her chest.

Wave's face twisted... Yeah, I can understand that. A country boy, who's not used to killing yet, will definitely be surprised by such words.

- Before we move out, I want to make one thing clear. Each of you is gonna have to do a lot of killing. That's what we're going to do. Are you sure you're ready? - Esdes asked seriously.

Balls started first.

- I'm a soldier. I obey orders. Any orders... Even if I have to kill.

- Likewise. - Kurome said. - I always obey orders. That's my opinion.

- I--" Wave continued. - I got into the navy thanks to the patronage of a distinguished man... I know that when asked "how can I thank you?" he would say "defend the motherland with all your strength, that's all you have to do". I can do it! At the cost of my life.

Next, it was the pigeon's turn.

- To fulfil my desires, I need to climb higher and higher. Therefore, I am eager to get on with the task at hand. Even if I have to do some dark deeds to do it.

- What about you, Doctor? - Esdes asked the... the... I can't say "THAT", man.

- Hmmm...I am guided by a simple principle. Style is everything to me! Do you understand?

I didn't have to pretend with my face anymore... I looked at him like he was a total f**k, not hiding it in my gaze in the slightest. Esdes caught a glimpse of me, and seeing my look, was clearly angry at the doctor for my spoilt impression of her team. Meanwhile, the doctor himself continued.

- This incredible strength... And icy ferocity... Ah, it's like a goddess descended from the heavens!!!! You are unrivalled! The only thing I want is to study you!

I couldn't... forgive me... but I couldn't help myself....

- What are the places to explore?